Notes: This is the second consecutive time Goodyear has brought this particular combination of left- and right-side tires to Pocono . . . in addition to Pocono, Nextel Cup teams ran this tire set-up earlier this season at both Las Vegas and Bristol . . . coming up in the second half of the season, Cup teams will run these codes at Indianapolis next week and Bristol at the end of the month . . . Busch and Truck Series teams will also run this combination at Nashville this season . . . as on all NASCAR ovals longer than one mile, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Pocono . . . the air pressure in the inner liners must be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

Goodyear Quote:
Mark Keto, Lead Engineer, Stock Car Tire Development - "Nextel Cup teams have run this tire set-up three times so far in 2004, including at Pocono in June. Teams should be very familiar with how these tires perform at this track, so we expect a good weekend. Comparing what we've brought to Pocono for the past several years, this right-side compound is the same, while the left-side is softer. As far as the construction is concerned, it is softer and more compliant than in the past, which is an across-the-board change for 2004."

RACE BONUS INFO

The NASCAR Nextel Cup Leader Bonus is $90,000 at Pocono for leading the points and winning the race (Dale Earnhardt Jr. last won the award, $80,000 at Richmond on May 15, 2004). The $360,000 annual award is paid at $10,000 per race to the point leader at the end of each event if the driver is also the winner. The award increases by $10,000 each week the it goes unclaimed. If the point leader is not the race winner at the end of the year, the balance of the award is distributed among the top-10 finishers in the drivers point standings(7-25-2004)

Cooler Restrictions:
Small coolers (12"x12") are permitted in the facilty. Backpacks, fanny packs and plastic bags are also premitted. All coolers and bags are subject to search at time of entry into any Pocono Raceway gate. No glass containers of any kind are permitted.

IN-CAR AUDIO SITES

none listed

QUALIFYING, PRACTICE and RESULTSnews and links

Johnson wins at Pocono, completes sweep: #48-Jimmie Johnson won Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway completing the sweep of both Cup races at Pocono in 2004. Johnson is the fifth driver ever to sweep both races at Pocono, the others:
Bobby Labonte 1999
Tim Richmond 1986
Bill Elliott 1985
Bobby Allison 1982
It is Johnson's 4th win of 2004 and 10th of hs career [95 starts]. It is also Hendrick Motorsports 10th win at Pocono (Johnson-2; Gordon-3; T.Labonte-1; Richmond-3; G. Bodine-1). #6-Mark Martin held off rookie #9-Kasey Kahne for second to finish as a runner-up at this track, where he has never won a Cup race, for the sixth time in his career. #16-Greg Biffle was fourth [his 1st top-5 of 2004] with #24-Jeff Gordon fifth. Pole-winner #41-Casey Mears finished 18th after fading at the end. #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr., who said before the race he planned to go the distance this week, came to his pit on the 52nd lap and climbed out of the #8 Budwiser Chevy. John Andretti got into the car to finish the race while Earnhardt Jr. sat under a tent behind his team's pit stall, hanging his head.(see a good race narrative/race report at )
For race results, see:MotorsportsOneNASCAR.com.(8-1-2004)

Race Notes - Pocono: Jimmie Johnson won the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway, scoring his 10th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 95th career start. His last victory came at Pocono in June, six races ago. All of Johnson's victories have occurred on superspeedways.
Johnson won the $90,000 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Leader Bonus. He is the third driver in 2004 to win the bonus, joining Matt Kenseth (Las Vegas-$30,000) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Richmond-$80,000).
Johnson became the 16th driver to post multiple victories at Pocono Raceway and the fifth driver to sweep both races in a season at Pocono.
This was his fourth victory in 2004. He has swept races each of the past three seasons: Dover (2002), New Hampshire (2003) and Pocono (2004). He posted his 14th top-five finishes this season.
Johnson remained first in the point standings for the seventh race in his career. Johnson ranked first in the standings after Kansas City in September 2002 and in the last six races.
Johnson has a 232-point lead over second-place Jeff Gordon, the largest point lead of the 2004 season.
Johnson led six times for 124 laps including the final 38, the third time he has led the most laps in 2004.
Johnson led 126 laps at Pocono in June for a total of 250 of the 400 laps raced here in 2004 (62.5 percent)
This is the 12th victory for Chevrolet in 2004. Ford has six and Dodge has two.Notebook Items
All drivers in the top five in the current point standings have scored at least one victory this season.
While the drivers ranked 11th thru 15th remain in position to grab one of the coveted top-10 point positions, sixth-place Elliott Sadler
thru 10th-place Kevin Harvick in the current standings are separated by just 84 points, noting just how quickly a change in the standings could occur with just one bad finish in these very important six races.
Kevin Harvick (32nd) ended his streak of running at the finish in 58 straight races, the modern era record.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(8-1-2004)

Stock Car Fans - Rumblings - Pocono: Jimmie Johnson pulled off the sweep today at Pocono Raceway as he took the Pennsylvania 500 with the greatest of ease. He led six times for 124 laps (combined with what he did here in June that means he led 14 times for a total of 250 of the 400 laps run!), and grabbed his 4th win of the season and 10th of his career. He's now tied for 46th on
the all-time win list, and pocketed $276,950 from the over $4.8M in posted awards.
Well, Mike Helton told them to be inventive when it came to that PowerAde bottle in Victory Lane. He might wanna reconsider his words after they built a Lowe's privacy fence around it today....
Another typical Pocono. We had very high attrition again today with 17 cars out, only 26 running at the end. We lost 16 cars when we were here seven weeks ago.
Dale Earnhardt Jr made it 52 laps today...John Andretti finished out for him. Mark Martin (2nd) had his best finish since he won at Dover in June.
Greg Biffle (4th) had his best finish since he was 4th at Michigan last August. His Top-5 gives us 24 drivers to score a T-5 this
season.....last year's number was 30.
Robby Gordon (7th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Talladega last April.
Scott Wimmer (11th) had his best finish since he was 9th at Dover in June.
Ken Schrader (21st) had his best finish since he was 20th at California in May.
STREAKIN....Jeff Gordon has 5 Top-5's in a row.
Jimmie Johnson has 6 Top-5's in the last 7 races.
This Week's Elevator....UP: Operator of the Week is Terry Labonte (+23), followed by Ricky Rudd (+21). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Tony Stewart (-27), followed by Michael Waltrip (-25), Kurt Busch (-23), and Jamie McMurray (-23). This was Op #3 for Terry this season.
Jeff Green led today for the first time since he led once for 16 laps at Bristol last August. He becomes the 45th different driver to lead a
lap this season....last year's number was 48.
Jimmie Johnson padded his points lead today....it's now 232 over teammate Jeff Gordon. Seems like a shame to throw all that away, huh? Every position in the Top-10 changed hands today except the leader. Jeremy Mayfield is now only 40 markers out of the final transfer spot, and every driver down thru 15th is still in the hunt.(Stock Car Fans Nextel Cup Newsletter)(8-1-2004)

The Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway:
The UNOFFICIAL Top Ten (start pos in parens), lap leaders, cars out, cautions and some notes
after 200 of 200 laps:

Cautions: 9 for 35 laps

Caution 9 - Laps 194 - 195: #97-Busch lost a transmission, #45-Petty got into the oil and smacked the wall, but drove on..Caution 8 - Laps 176 - 180: #25-Vickers slid up into #18-Labonte, Labonte spun and backed into the tunn 1 wall hard, but walked away ok.Caution 7 - Laps 160 - 164: #0-Burton spun after his transmission locked up.Caution 6 - Laps 126 - 133: #99-Burton got too low while passing #42-McMurray, a little contact and Burton hit the grass and spun around, smacking the turn 3 all and also collected #77-Gaughan.Caution 5 - Laps 121 - 123: Debris in turn 3.Caution 4 - Laps 108 - 112: #20-Stewart got loose and spun around and hit the wall, #97-Busch was right behind Stewart, but it looks like Busch didn't hit him. #9-Kahne got into Stewart after the spin, and did some damage to the nose of the #9.Caution 3 - Laps 99 - 103: Debris in turn 2.Caution 2 - Laps 84 - 87: #89-Shepherd dropped oil on the track.Caution 1 - Laps 52 - 55: #22-Wimmer lost a left rear tire and spun in the grass, but was able to drive on and stay in the lead lap..

Who got a lap back on each caution at Pocono - The Lucky Dog Pack: (and their finish)
(FOX calls it 'the Free Pass Car', NBC calls it the Lucky Dog - which I prefer)Caution 9: none, the race was under 10 laps to goCaution 8: #12-Newman, 13Caution 7: #12-Newman, 13Caution 6: #22-Wimmer, 11Caution 5: #22-Wimmer, 11Caution 4: #32-Craven, 20Caution 3: #77-Gaughan, 28Caution 2: none awarded as #77-Gaughan was supposed to be, but he pitted early and lost it.Caution 1: #49-Schrader, 21

RACE/PIT NOTES: (as noted heard on TV or Radio)
---- after the caution 9 restart, #10-Riggs lost a bunch of spots as the battery went dead.
---- during the 9th caution, drivers who made pit stops who were running on the lead lap: #'s 12,01,41,32,40,45
---- #4-Spencer was running on the lead lap, then lost some gears and fell back.
---- on the 8th caution, the top 9 stayed out on the track.
---- on lap 173, #30-Blaney is back on the track as the team made repairs to the transmission.
---- on lap 166, #42-McMurray is reporting an engine problem and is slow on the track.
---- on the 7th caution pit stops, #19-Mayfield's team had some troulbe on the right side and lost a lot of time on pitroad.
---- while running 3rd, #0-Burton slowed up and fell back to 8th, lost 4th gear.
---- #77-Gaughan is back on the track as of lap 148 after the team made repairs.
---- #29-Harvick fell back a bunch of spots and is overheating as of lap 139, had to come in for a unscheduled pitstop.
---- #30-Blaney is reporting the trasmission is popping out of gear as of lap 125.
---- during the 5th caution all the drivers on the lead lap made a pit stop.
---- #4-Spencer was penalized when the fuel can left with the car on a fuel only stop, so Spencer has to come in for a stop-and-go.
---- #88-Jarrett came back on the track during the 4th caution, after the team changed the transmission
---- all the cars made oit stops on the 3rd caution, many of the teams only took 2 tires.
---- #38-Sadler sped down pit road on the 3rd caution pit stops and has to go the end of the longest line before the restart.
---- #15-Waltrip was black flagged for a smoking car on lap 98.
---- #15-Waltrip is showing some smoke as of lap 93 and is the last driver of the lead lap.
---- during the 2nd caution, #8-Andretti is back on the track after the team replaced the away bar arm, after the bolt broke.
---- on lap 78, #8-Andretti, in for Dale Jr. after hitting the wall in the tunnel turn, was blackflagged for running to slow. The team bought the car to the garage to make repairs and get the car running up to speed.
---- on lap 78, #88-Jarrett is reporting intermttent transmission problems.
---- on lap 73, #12-Newman made an unscheduled green flag stop as the car is handling poorly and lacks power.
---- as of lap 60, it was reported that #2-Wallace is having transmission problems and the shift pattern is backwards on the transmission, so Wallace has to remember when shifting that it is different.
---- MRN Radio is reporting on lap 58 that #01-Nemechek is having a transmission problems, losing 1st, 2nd and 4th gears.
---- during the 1st caution pit stops, #24-Gordon lost spots as the jack wasn't up high enough and the rear tire changer couldn't get the tire on.
---- on the first caution, #8-Earnhardt Jr. got out of the car and John Andretti is now driving the car. Earnhardt Jr. felt he was hurting the team, his left leg felt numb from the burn injury.
---- #42-McMurray was penalized as a tire rolled out of the pit box and past Waltrip's pit, McMurray had to go to the rear of the longest line.
---- on the first caution pit stops, #17-Kenseth's team made some front right fender work/adjustments.
---- on lap 42, #12-Newman made an unscheduled green flag stop for a possible tire going down.
---- #77-Gaughan left his pit stall with a wrench, during the lap 33 green flag stop, and was penalized.
---- race leader, #01- Nemechek pitted on lap 32, and had a bad pit stop with the jack breaking, cost him a ton of time.
---- green flag pits stops occurring in the lap 30-35 range.
---- after getting lapped on lap 28, #8-Earnhardt Jr. reported he is very loose, rolloing over. Pitted early on lap 30.
---- around lap 15, #Earnhardt Jr. is reporting he may have a tire going down.
---- to the back, #4-Jimmy Spencer, missed drivers introductions.

Dale Jr. gets out of car; Andretti finishes race, picks up 11 spots: Numbness, not pain, forced Dale Earnhardt, Jr. out of the Budweiser Chevrolet Sunday at Pocono Raceway. "I felt fine," Junior said. "The bumps hurt a little bit but my foot was going to sleep. I haven't been using it a lot -- I haven't been standing on it much and it just goes to sleep and cramps up real easy." Earnhardt, still nursing burn injuries suffered two weeks ago when he wrecked a sports car at Infineon Raceway, completed 51 laps before better judgment said to hand the ride over to substitute driver John Andretti.(NASCAR.com), Andretti restarted 36th and brought the #8 home in 25th.(8-1-2004)

To the BACK: none reported, #17-Kenseth is in a backup car, but that was before qualifying and the team put the primary car's engine in the backup, so he will start where he qualifed - 15th.(8-1-2004)

Both Saturday practices at Pocono Raceway for the Pennsylvania 500 have been cancelled due to rain.(7-31-2004)

Mears wins pole at Pocono: #41-Casey Mears won his first ever Budweiser Pole at Pocono Raceway for the Pennsylvania 500, the 10th pole winner of 2005 and puts Mears in the 2005 Budweiser Shootout. It is the first time that a driver has won their first career pole at Pocono Raceway. The rest of the top five: #01-Joe Nemechek, #97-Kurt Busch, #40-Sterling Marlin [looks weird in a white car] and #38-Elliott Sadler. #17-Kenseth wrecked in practice and went to a backup, but will not have to go to the back as the team put the primary engine n the backup car. Missing the race are #90-A.J. Henrikson, #51-Kevin Lepage and #37-Andy Hillenburg. #13-Greg Sacks and #02-Jason Jarrett make their first Cup starts of the 2004. #80-Carl Long will run a race with a 4th different car # [also drove #02, #46 and #00]
Qualifying results at my Jayski's Pocono Qualifying/Starting Lineup Page.
Other Pocono Qualifying Results/Starting Lineup at:MotorSports OneNASCAR.com.(7-30-2004)

Pocono Qualifying Notes: Casey Mears won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Bud Pole for the Pennsylvania 500, lapping Pocono Raceway in 52.411 seconds at 171.720 mph. Kasey Kahne holds the track-qualifying record of 52.164 seconds, 172.533 mph, set June 11, 2004.
This is Mears' first career Bud Pole in 56 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races. He became the fourth first-time Bud Pole winner this season.
It is Mears's second top-10 start in his four races at Pocono.
Mears is the 16th different Bud Pole winner in the past 17 races at Pocono. Qualifying was canceled in June 2002.
Joe Nemechek had the second-fastest time with a qualifying lap of 52.431 seconds at 171.654 mph and will join Mears on the front row. This is Nemechek's ninth top-10 start this season and his ninth in 21 races at Pocono.
This is 10th Bud Pole for Dodge in 2004. Chevrolet has eight Bud Poles and Ford has two.
Greg Sacks (38th) qualified for his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race since Texas in 1998.
The last two Pennsylvania 500s have been won from the Bud Pole. Eleven of the last 14 races here have been won from fifth or better. There have been nine different race winners at Pocono since Bobby Labonte swept both races at the Pennsylvania track in 1999.
Eleven of the last 14 races at Pocono Raceway have been won from a starting position of fifth or better. Only five NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Pocono have ever been won from a starting position worse than 15th, most recently by Jeremy Mayfield who won the 2000
Pocono 500 from 22nd. The farthest back that a race winner at Pocono has started was 27th by Terry Labonte in the 1995 Pocono 500.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(7-30-2004)

Stock Car Fans - Ramblings - Pocono: Casey Mears grabbed his first ever Bud Pole today at Pocono Raceway for
Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 with a time of 52.411 (171.720 mph). He becomes the 10th qualifier for next years Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in February, and smashed his previous best starting spot in the process (a 4th at Chicagoland in July of 2003). In what was a good day for the Ganassi Dodges (all three will start in the Top-7 on Sunday), Casey edged out Joe Nemechek by .02 seconds. For Front Row Joe (2nd), this is his best starting spot since he had the
outside pole at California in May.
Sterling Marlin (4th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 4th at Daytona in February.
Elliott Sadler (5th) has his best starting spot since he started 4th at Lowe's in May.
STREAKIN....Joe Nemechek has 4 Top-10 starts in the last 5 races.
Greg Sacks (38th) makes his first start since his accident at Texas Motor Speedway in April of 1998! It's been a long road back, and anybody who remembers that race knows the hospital list was rather long that day.
Jason Jarrett (42nd) makes his first start since Talladega last October (and second overall in his career). He started 25th and finished 29th in that race in a Robert Yates Ford.(StockCarFans.Com Nextel Cup Newsletter)(7-30-2004)

Friday's Practice for the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway was under a fog delay, but practice ran for an hour and is now over. To check out the weather in Long Pond, see raceweather.net or www.weather.com.Practice is over, the quickest were:
#01-Nemechek 171.393
#48-Johnson 170.684
#6-Martin 170.532
#25-Vickers 170.393
#24-Gordon 170.168
Slowest were:#90-Henriksen, 158.615 and #72-Shelmerdine, 159.640.
Most laps run: #16-Biffle, 16; followed by #77, #42 and #20 running 12.
Best average speed [all laps averaged]
(from NASCAR.com's leaderboard service)
#01-Nemechek, 169.887 in 7 laps
#38-Sadler, 169.512 in 6 laps
#6-Martin, 169.274 in 7 laps.
For practice speeds, see or NASCAR.com.Schedule Change: The heavy fog in the Long Pond, Pa., area finally lifted about 1:30pm/et Friday, allowing Nextel Cup drivers to get in some pre-qualifying practice in advance of Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. NASCAR officials were forced to cut practice time in half, which would give teams an hour to work on qualifying setups. The change pushed qualifying back until 4:00pm/et.()(7-30-2004)

Qualifying Order links for the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway are posted. 46 drivers are listed. First driver scheduled out is #37-Andy Hillenburg and last due out is #17-Matt Kenseth. I have 2 teams who can't use a provisonal, #90-Henriksen and #13-Sacks, with 44 cars eligible to use one, so they 'should' be charged, but...ya never know.(7-30-2004)

Entry List Links are up for the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. 47 drivers are listed including: #00-Ryan McGlynn; #02-Jason Jarrett [Sadler's car], #13-Greg Sacks, #37-TBA [Chad Blount maybe since ARCA will race also], #50-Mike Wallace listed but he will be in Pikes Peak, imagine P.J. Jones will be in the car, #51-Kevin Lepage, #72-Kirk Shelmerdine, #80-Carl Long [Hover car - Long has also driven the #46, #02, #00 cars], #90-A.J. Henricksen [Donlavey's car] and #98-Todd Bodine.(7-27-2004)UPDATE: Andy Hillenburg is now listed in the #37 and PJ Jones is now listed in the #50..(7-28-2004)DOWN to 46: #00-McGlynn has been removed from NASCAR.com's entry list.(7-30-2004)

How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Bristol(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph

How to break a tie during qualifying? (same speed/time) When drivers are tied for a starting spot during qualifying, it is broken by owners points standings(not drivers).

Links: Practice speeds, qualifying and results can be found at these sites:NASCAR.com

TRACK RECORDS, NOTES, RULES and NEWS

Maintaining a Top-10 Standard: Four drivers have remained in the top-10 in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings all season: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(7-25-2004)

Up front is best at Pocono: In the 53 Cup races held at Pocono the winner has started in the front row 30 times and the top ten 39 times.(6-13-2004)

July 2003 [2nd] Race Winner: #12-Ryan Newman, 127.705mph, started 1st

1st Race Record: Alan Kulwicki, June 1992, 144.023mph

2nd Race Record: Rusty Wallace, July 1996, 144.892

Slowest Race Record: Tim Richmond, June 1986, 113.279mph

Track Qualifying Record: Kasey Kahne, June 2004, 172.533mph

Event Qualifying Record: Rusty Wallace, June 2000, 171.625mph

June 2004 Pole Sitter: #9-Kasey Kahne, 172.533, finished 14th

July 2003 Pole Sitter: Ryan Newman, 170.358, finished 1st

Worst Starting Spot to Win: Terry Labonte, June 1995, started 27th

Most Wins: 5 - Bill Elliott

Most Poles: 5 - Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader

Most Top 5s: 17 - Mark Martin

Most Top 10s: 24 - Mark Martin

Oldest Winner: Harry Gant, 50 years, 5 months, 7 days, 6/17/90

Youngest Winner: Jeff Gordon, 24 years, 10 months, 12 days, 6/16/1996

Most Lead Changes: 56 - 7/30/79

Fewest Lead Changes: 10 - 7/26/1998

Most Leaders: 16, Three times, most recently 6/13/2004

Fewest Leaders: 4 - Twice, most recently, 6/9/1985

Most Cautions: 13 - 6/17/90

Fewest Cautions: 1 - 7/30/78

Most Caution Laps: 57, 6/13/2004

Few Caution Laps: 3, 7/30/78

Most Finishers on a lead lap: 26, 7/28/2002

Fewest Finishers on a lead lap: 2 - twice, most recently 6/6/82

Most Running at the Finish: 39, 7/29/2001

Fewest Running at the Finish: 18, 7/25/1982

Most Laps Led: 164, Jeff Gordon, 7/26/1998

Fewest Laps Led by a Race Winner: 4, Bobby Labonte, 7/29/2001

Most Wins by Manufacturer: 19 - Chevy

Races won from starting pos 1: 9 [of 53 races] 17%

Races won from starting pos 2: 7

Races won from starting pos 3: 8

Races won from starting pos 4: 7

Races won from starting pos 5: 2

Races won from starting pos 6: 1

Races won from starting pos 7: 1

Races won from starting pos 8: 2

Races won from starting pos 10: 1

Races won from starting pos 11: 3

Races won from starting pos 12: 1

Races won from starting pos 13: 3

Races won from starting pos 14: 1

Races won from starting pos 15: 1

Races won from starting pos 16: 2

Races won from starting pos 22: 1

Races won from starting pos 23: 1

Races won from starting pos 27: 1

Races won from the pole: 9 of 53 events (17%)

Races won from in top 10: 39 of 53 events (74%)

Races won from outside top 10: 14 of 53 events (26%)

PAST RACE WINNERSPocono Raceway

TRACK/RACE NEWS

SAFER at Pocono - done:SAFER was recently completed in Pocono Raceway's turns 2 and 3 in time for this weekend's Pennsylvania 500 at the 2.5-mile triangular track. When the series was here in June for the Pocono 500, only turn 1 had the SAFER walls.
Scranton Times)(7-29-2004)

Pocono owner looking to get slots license: Pocono Raceway CEO Dr. Joseph Mattioli said Wednesday that he is interested in one of three available stand-alone slots licenses for his NASCAR racing venue at Long Pond in Tunkhannock Township, Monroe County. Mattioli said he contacted state officials last year for consideration for a license - which would cost $50 million - to add a slots parlor on a site behind the grandstand on the racetrack. Mattioli said the family-owned Pocono Raceway's biggest competitor is Dover Downs in Delaware, which has slot machines. "For us to compete with them is pretty hard," Mattioli said. Additionally, the raceway did not want to lose one of the two races it hosts each year, attendance which is tantamount to four Super Bowls, he said.
"Most people don't realize this, but both NASCAR races are the biggest events in Pennsylvania for the whole year," Mattioli said. Wyomissing-based Penn National Gaming has casinos in eight states and horse racing facilities in four states, including two in Pennsylvania - The Downs at Pocono in Plains Township and Penn National Race Track in East Hanover Township, Dauphin County.
Under the law signed by Gov. Edward G. Rendell Monday, owners are only allowed a majority interest in one slots venue in the state. Penn National can get a license for one of its two horse racing tracks, but will have to sell two-thirds interest in the other in order to get it licensed.(Citizens' Voice)(7-8-2004)

for the zillionth time....Pocono NOT for sale: The recent sale of Martinsville Speedway -- one of the last of the independently owned tracks with NASCAR sanction -- to International Speedway Corporation again raised questions about the future of Pocono Raceway, with speculation again arising about a possible sale of the 45-year-old track to ISC. No way, track founder and owner Dr. Joe Mattioli says, who then went on to explain the long-term disposition of the track. Turns out Mattioli (Doc, as he is better known to acquaintances) has placed the track in trust for his heirs, with legal conditions prohibiting sale for at least a generation of Mattiolis. "I read all the stories, but as they affect Pocono, we're all set," Mattioli said Friday. "I'm an old man, 80 years old, so naturally your affairs have to be settled a long time ago. You could kick off tomorrow. So I had to be ready tax-wise, and our estates are all in order. Nothing's forever," admitted Mattioli, still robust and straight-up at 80. "[But] I've got it tied up for two or three generations. It's in trust for my grandchildren. My kids are all around 50. Nobody can sell it until the trust is broken, which is when my grandchildren inherit it. It's whatever they want to do at that point. I have seven grandchildren, and just last week we had twin girls [great-grandchildren]. It'll be a real battle in 30, 40, 50 years. I hope you'll tell me what's going on then."
ISC now controls 12 of the 22 Nextel Cup tracks, and partly controls a 13th in Joliet, Ill. SMI has six. Dover controls Dover, plus the Nashville and St. Louis tracks, which present Busch and Truck races. Indianapolis, of course, is an entity to itself. With the acquisition of Martinsville, the only survivors are Bob Bahre's New Hampshire Speedway and Mattioli's Pocono. Bahre, 78, was injured in a car wreck last winter, and although his recovery seems certain, his son Gary likely will be entrusted with the property. Mattioli, as noted, intends to keep his track in family hands. Although both the Bahres and Mattiolis (with son Joe increasingly responsible for nuts and bolts) have close ties with NASCAR and the Frances, both tracks appear likely to remain in family hands.(Speed Channel)(6-13-2004)

Pocono getting SAFER UPDATE in phases: been told Pocono Raceway is having SAFER installed this week. Not sure what parts of the track, but hear it'll be done by the time the Cup teams race there on June 13th.(6-1-2004)UPDATE: At 5:00pm/et Tuesday, workers began installing the SAFER barrier system. The plan is have turn one completed for the Pocono 500 and turns two and three completed for the Pennsylvania 500 on August 1. "Guys have hit them a bunch and walked away from it," said Pocono Raceway owner Dr. Joseph Mattioli. "Everything seems like it's gonna work. We've heard no complaints about it." The system, designed by Dr. Dean Sicking of the University of Nebraska, is made up of steel tubs and pads of hard foam. They are affixed to existing concrete walls and are meant to absorb some of the energy when a car hits the wall. "It's a very simple system," Mattioli said. "I think that's what makes it good is the simplicity." The process at Pocono Raceway began about two months ago when the track was surveyed. Once the specific materials are ordered, the steel tubing is bent to fit the radius of the track's corners. The material is then shipped and installed. Extra material is provided to the track in the event it is damaged during a crash. The SAFER wall will stick out about two to three feet from the existing wall. The exact length of each wall and cost of the project was unavailable.(Citizens Voice)(6-5-2004)

Pocono Reconstructs a Tunnel: Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA has reconstructed one tube of its vehicle tunnel [turn 2, known as the tunnel turn] to accommodate the largest highway legal RV's to pass through, the new height of the tube is 13 feet, 6 inches.(NASCAR Scene Magazine)(5-14-2004)

The Pocono 400? NASCAR may be under pressure to present more "TV-friendly" races, and Pocono's 500-milers may be a target. Pocono may be under pressure to cut those 500s back to 400s.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-5-2004)

DRIVER/TEAM/TESTING NEWS

A question, I get: why do some drivers knock the PowerAde bottles off the top of the car in victory lane? Easy:
PowerAde is owned by Coca-Cola
Gatorade is ownerd by Pepsi
so drivers like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, who have ties to Pepsi or Gatorade knock the bottles off. Simple as that. comments concerning those actions can be addressed by contacting the teams.(7-1-2004)UPDATE: NASCAR wants Nextel Cup drivers to refrain from removing a conflicting sponsor's product from their cars in victory lane. At the drivers' meeting prior to Sunday's Siemens 300, NASCAR president Mike Helton told the drivers "do not take it upon yourselves to remove products" placed on cars as they come in for victory celebrations. "For years there have been sponsors that conflict with a car's sponsor or a driver's personal sponsor," Helton said. "We've been able to work through those with politeness and respect, and we need to get back to that." The recent issues have mostly been with a large, blue Powerade bottle that some drivers have pushed or even knocked off their cars because of affiliations with Gatorade or with Pepsi, which owns Gatorade. Powerade is a Coca-Cola product. "You can maneuver away from it or work around it," Helton said. "If that doesn't begin happening again, we will be forced to deal with it."()(7-25-2004)

Andretti on stand-by for Dale Jr. at Pocono: John Andretti, part-time driver for DEI's #1 Chevy, will be the stand-by driver for #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. next week at Pocono if needed. Martin Truex Jr., subbing for Dale Jr. at NHIS, will be unavailable as he will be at Pikes Peak International Raceway on Colorado for the Busch race.(FSN's NASCAR This Morning)(7-25-2004)

Green-White-Checker OFFICIAL and: A “green-white-checkered” finish format will be used for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series beginning with next weekend’s races at New Hampshire International Speedway, NASCAR officials announced today. “The green-white-checkered format is an attempt to achieve everyone’s goals – a green-flag finish,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said. “This change hopefully will provide competitive finishes in the relatively rare occasions it is warranted. This format has been successful in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and considering the tight competition week in and week out in the other two national series, we feel the time is right to use the same procedure in all three national series.”
The new procedure will consist of a restart of two laps – green flag for the first lap of the restart and the white flag signaling the final lap leading to the checkered flag. All additional laps will be counted and scored. The new format will not guarantee a green-flag finish. Only one restart under the “green-white-checkered” format will be attempted. If a caution comes out during that period, the race will be complete. This procedure will eliminate the need for a red flag in the final laps to immediately stop the race in an attempt to finish under green-flag conditions. The announcement expands the single attempt “green-white-checkered” format to all three of NASCAR’s national series, beginning next week.(NASCAR PR), for the Truck Series, who have had this procedure since it started, in 48 races with a G-W-C, 6 times has the lead changed [12.5%](Speed Channel)(7-15-2004)AND - Trucks Change too: Until now, the trucks have been allowed to run multiple green-flag restarts to determine a winner. That will end after the race at Gateway. Cup races will be allowed only one re-start, and NASCAR will enforce that rule in all three series. Thus, a finish under caution is possible if an accident occurs on the final two laps.(St Louis Post Dispatch)(7-17-2004)

See the 2004 Team Chart which has links to past news for each team and info on each team.

PAINT SCHEME NEWS

Car#/Driver

Sponsor/Scheme/Promo

Race/Date

Image Link

#5-Terry Labonte

Summer Olympics

Pocono - August

#12-Ryan Newman

30th Mobil 1 Anniversery

Pocono - August

#40-Sterling Marlin

Aspen Edge Low Carb Beer

Pocono - August

none...yet

#9 and #19 Schemes for the Summer: the #9 and #19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge will continue to run its new paint scheme this weekend in New Hampshire. The new scheme will run through the August 28th race in Bristol in support of Dodge's
Summer Sales Drive.(Clear!Blue PR)(7-20-2004)

Marlin to run low-carb beer scheme: In support of their new low carb beer Aspen Edge, Sterling Marlin will be driving an all White Aspen Edge themed #40 Dodge at the August 1st Pocono Raceway race.(4-23-2004)

Special Scheme for Newman at select race and a CONTEST: A long-time supporter of NASCAR racing, ExxonMobil is marking its 14th season in 2004 as a major sponsor of Penske Racing with veteran driver Rusty Wallace and NASCAR 2003 Speed Channel American Driver of the Year Ryan Newman. The Mobil 1 brand will be featured on the hood of Newman’s #12 Dodge during five NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races in 2004:
the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway
the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedwaythe Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway
the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway
and the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.(TRPR).(1-26-2004)